1. Field of the Invention
A power supply system for supplying electrical power to at least one load includes a base plate, a support rail and a power supply module fastened to the base plate, at least one bus bar module, and a rail mounting device for mounting the bus bar module on the support rail. The rail mounting device includes conductor members for supplying power from the power supply module to bus bars contained within the bus bar modules, respectively.
2. Description of the Related Art
It is well known in the patented prior art to mount electrical power distribution components on support rails, as illustrated, for example, by the U.S. patents to Eggert et al U.S. Pat. No. 5,629,831, Schmidt et al No. 5,658,172, Glathe et al No. 5,722,862, Hanning et al No. 6,027,380, Gaertner et al No. 6,120,315, Bernhards et al No. 6,224,429, and Zebermann et al No. 6,241,561, among others.
When supplying power to certain electrical loads such as a three-phase motor, it is customary to feed the power via a heavy-duty power switch and a circuit breaker, overvoltage relay or the like. It is also desirable to supply single-phase or two-phase power to other electrical appliances. One common drawback to the known power distribution systems is that the connections must normally be performed in a complicated labor-intensive manner, and the systems are relatively complex and inflexible.
Accordingly, the present invention was developed to provide an improved power distribution system that is flexible, and is easily and visually assembled from the front of the electrical panel in a simple plug-in manner without the use of tools. The system is designed to provide single-phase, two-phase and/or three-phase power to electrical loads, such as motors and appliances.